“Are you gay?” a tall young man in a cowboy hat asked Cockburn, under his breath. Your correspondent was hovering in the foyer of the American Airlines Center, looking up the RNC schedule on his phone.

“Excuse me?” Cockburn said.

“Are you gay?” the young man asked again.

“Am I gay?! No,” said Cockburn.

“Oh,” the young man said, a touch disappointed. “Seemed like you might be gay.”

Cockburn had never read too much into the viral internet chatter that accompanies large conservative conferences, about the surge in activity on homosexual hookup apps. This interaction in Dallas gave him pause for thought. Perhaps there was something to the rumors about that one bathroom in the AAC.

Generally, though, there was decidedly less action at this first ever midterm RNC in Dallas. Your correspondent bopped around the smattering of events and receptions on offer nonetheless.

The central social hub of the convention was the Daily Wire’s “BaRNC,” which occupied a concrete slab immediately outside of the arena. Cockburn heard RFK Jr.’s dulcet tones from the stage as he entered. The DW podcasted from the venue throughout the week’s proceedings. Ben Shapiro was mobbed by selfie-seeking fans as soon as he entered to cohost a show with Clay Travis. Earlier in the convention, Shapiro shared a moment with James Fishback; the defeated Florida gubernatorial candidate made a beeline for the Daily Wire founder to introduce himself. Fishback was better received by Shapiro than by RNC staff: Cockburn understands he managed to get a floor badge he wasn’t supposed to have and was promptly thrown out as a result.

After the Thursday speeches, a throng filtered in to watch the Wire’s District Club podcast with Ben Domenech, Mary Margaret Olohan and Tim Rice. Their guest, Vanity Fair’s Aidan McLaughlin, was a last-minute replacement after Tara Palmeri had her credentials revoked by Secret Service, for asking congressional candidates about the Epstein Files........

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